MFA General Secretary Bjorn Vassallo spoke in detail about the association’s work over the past season during the presentation of the Report of the Activities of the Association (Administrative Report) for season 2014/15 in the Annual General Meeting which was held at the Westin Dragonara Resort on Friday.
Vassallo said the association was taking the challenges and the successful implementation followed dialogue with stakeholders. He said that together with stakeholders, the association was setting up the basis to safeguard the right development of the local game and the national team. This could only be achieved due to long-term plans.
The association managed to challenge the status quo and the Player Status Reform which was approved in May brought big changes which give a new identity to football operations – build on what other football associations around Europe have done.
Bjorn Vassallo said the social dialogue meeting during which UEFA, EPFL and FIFPro joined local officials and representatives of players was a milestone as it kicked-off vital discussions on the implementation of minimum requisites in contracts of professional players across Europe and other matters related to the clubs and leagues as employers and players as employees.
The MFA General Secretary congratulated Hibernians for winning the 100th league championship organised by the MFA and Birkirkara for winning the second major honour. He said that thanks to the financial incentives, clubs and member associations continued to benefit financially.
He praised the work of the MFA Technical Centre which has now earned the right to host UEFA Pro Licence. Malta is first small country to be entrusted by the Jira Panel to host this course.
In the refereeing sector, Malta has now sixteen officials on the FIFA panel with two referees were promoted to higher categories.
Vassallo said the Financial Fair Play regulations brought more stability in clubs. With regards to facilities, the MFA remains committed to continue upgrading them for the good of players, officials, media and players.
The fight against match-fixing remains on top of the agenda. He said that what was considered to be corruption is now a criminal offense which not only affects the game but also the values of society. The association set up an Anti-Corruption and Transparency Task Force in order to bring all stakeholders together on this issue. An action plan on this issue will focus on education and prevention, amendments to the law and new regulations and more investigative power.
Football for Life is the slogan being used by the association for its social responsibility campaign. He said that thanks to this campaign, football could help those in need.
Following the organisation of the UEFA Under-17 Championships last year, the MFA is currently preparing to host the UEFA Top Executive Programme in September for which the Presidents and General Secretaries of all fifty-four associations will be attending.
Meanwhile figures from the Administrative Report show that there was a 6% decrease in attendance for the Premier League, an 11% decrease for the First Division, an increase of 52% in the Second Division, a decrease of 23% in the Third Division, an increase of 17% in the FA Trophy and an increase of 12% in the Super Cup. The overall decrease was 1%.
Attendance for Premier League matches was 102,048; 17,640 for First Division matches 15,728 for Second Division matches; 5,580 for Third Division matches; 17,466 for FA Trophy matches and 1,804 for the Super Cup.
It was only Third Division clubs that registered a loss of around €2,000 between the thirteen clubs.